18.5 mn Mumbaikars travelled on Mumbai Metro since June 8

Over 18.5 million commuters  travelled on the Mumbai Metro from its inaugural date of June 8 this year till August 10, Reliance Infrastructure arm Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) that operates the metro, said on Monday.

The 11.4-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar metro rail service has registered a ridership between 300,000 to  500,000 a day. MMOPL estimates that against the metro’s carrying capacity of 1.1 million in four swanky coaches, the number of passengers travelling would increase to between 600,000 to 900,000 million a day in the next three years.

An MMOPL spokesman told Business Standard that shifting to a revised fare structure of Rs 20 for token riders and Rs 15 for smart card users since July 8 from the promotional fare of Rs 10 had not impacted commuter flow on the route. 

Instead, there had been a surge as commuters were giving preference to the metro instead of the crowded Andheri-Kurla road. About 60 per cent of the commuters had switched from tokens to smart cards within the first two months of inception of commercial service. About 40 per cent of the commuters were using tokens.

The rise in commuters was also despite the state-run Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority filing a petition against MMOPL on fare fixation. The next hearing is scheduled on September 1.

“The sale of smart cards went up significantly after the MMOPL offered discounts on them vis-à-vis tokens on July 8. While MMOPL sold an average of 4,000 contact less smart cards daily during the first one month (barring the initial few days of operation when the maximum number of cards were sold), the average daily sale volume went up significantly after MMOPL introduced its revised fare structure. MMOPL has sold over 325,000 smart cards in the past two months,” the spokesman said.

Further, MMOPL has introduced trip-based passes since August 1. The trip based passes - one for 45 trips and another for 60 trips one way - have been conceptualised keeping in view the convenience of daily metro commuters, especially the ones who use metro services to go to their workplaces, schools, colleges and other academic institutes. 

A commuter can avail a 45-trip pass (one way) at a price of just Rs 600, while to purchase a 60-trip pass (one way) one would have to pay Rs 800.

So far, the Mumbai Metro has faced minor initial teething problems. “A few weeks ago, water entered through an AC duct of a coach during heavy rains and within seven minutes, the train was taken out of commercial service and a new train was inducted. It led to the bunching of a few trains on the tracks, leading to a service delay by a few minutes for some time. In another incident, a man jumped onto the tracks, which prompted the operator of the train to apply emergency brakes to save his life. This also led to a little delay in service,” the spokesman said.